"Sparrow," a
collection of poems by alumna Carol Muske-Dukes, was nominated for
the 2003 National Book Award in poetry last month.
The book, inspired by the loss of Muske-Dukes' husband, meditates on
grief and loss and the transformative powers of expression and experience
found in the marriage of two artists. Muske-Dukes is one of five nominees
for the prestigious award.

A graduate
of SFSU's master's program in creative writing, Muske-Dukes is an accomplished,
renowned author of poetic and fiction works. "Sparrow" is
the latest of her seven books of poetry, which include the volumes "An
Octave Above Thunder" and "Red Trousseau." Her poems appear
regularly in magazines such as The New Yorker and L.A. Magazine and in
anthologies.

Muske-Dukes
has also published three novels: "Dear Digby," "Saving
St. Germ" and "Life After Death." In a tragic example
of life imitating art, the death of actor David Dukes, Muske-Dukes' husband,
coincided with the publication of "Life After Death," in which
the protagonist's husband dies of a heart attack.

Along with
her creative works, Muske-Dukes is a regular critic for The New York
Times Book
Review and the Los Angeles Times Book Review and
has published a collection of reviews and critical essays titled "Women
and Poetry: Truth, Autobiography and the Shape of the Self." A complete
list of her works can be found on Muske-Dukes'
Web site.

Muske-Dukes attended San Francisco State in the late 1960s and early
1970s and was a leader in the feminist poetry movement that characterized
the 1970s and 1980s.

"She
is one of our most distinguished graduates, with novels and many collections
of poetry to her credit," says Professor Maxine
Chernoff, chair of the Creative
Writing Department and a poet herself. "It is wonderful that
she is nominated for this prestigious award for her new collection. Her
voice in poetry is always
fresh and immediate and important."

Muske-Dukes heads the doctoral program in creative writing at University
of Southern California and previously taught at Columbia University.

She has received several significant awards and honors, including a
Guggenheim fellowship, the Witter Bynner award from the Library of Congress
and the Castagnola award from the Poetry Society of America.

The National
Book Awards are among the nation's most important literary prizes.
The awards recognize books of
exceptional merit written by Americans.